The forces behind “Classic Pare, Titos and Titas of Manila” unite in fast-growing ‘million’ members in Facebook Group

About a month ago, Mark Tanseco del Rosario, creator of food community Let’s Eat Pare, thought that a Filipino throwback community was just what the country wanted. Fast forward to today and he was proved right.

The Facebook Group Classic Pare Titos and Titas of Manilahas exploded to more than 700 thousand members. And it’s still growing!

The meteoric rise of this group has been noticed – not just by the online community, but by the mainstream media. 24 Oras, Esquire Philippines, and even Abante Tonite are a few that spread word of the group to even more Titos and Titas in the Philippines.

But what made this seemingly niche Facebook group incredibly successful?

The Nostalgia Factor

The first, and most powerful, reason is nostalgia. The Titos and Titas of Manila’s posts heavily reference 70s, 80s, and early 90s Filipino culture. Members reminisce which actor dated who or wonder if anybody else still remember incredibly obscure candies and toys. It is a treasure trove of obscure trivia.

Nostalgia works across generations. Gen Xers are old enough to look at their childhood with rose-tinted glasses. As for Millennials, they are nostalgic by default. As children, they grew up in a tumultuous upheaval of technology as computers and telecommunications shrunk and became more powerful. Lastly, the Gen Z is just curious what the fuss is about.

The effectiveness of referencing the past has given rise to nostalgia marketing. Many brands have already jumped on it. Coca-cola is once again selling coke in its iconic glass bottles while Adidas re-purposes old ads. Like them, Classic PareTitos and Titas of Manila touched a rising sentiment.

Influencer Kick-start

But while nostalgia was the main force behind the Facebook group’s popularity, its initial push came from something more practical: influencer marketing. The group began by adding his ‘friends and a couple influencers’. Influencers with their huge networks have become a crucial component in every online campaign because they can recruit legions of followers to act for their causes or brands.

King Content

But the presence of nostalgia and influencers needs to be supported with content. Fortunately, mining the past is a great and easy way to create it. Content is organic and engagement is immediate. Titos spontaneously ask trivia questions while Titas come up with answers and vice versa. More importantly, they don’t restrict themselves to text; they engage visually with photos and even videos. The result is an eclectic range of posts that mixes nostalgic memories and modern internet slang as mga lumang lodi are brought to life again.

By capturing an era of the past, throwing the idea around influencers, and continuously producing engaging content, Classic PareTitos and Titas of Manila has triumphantly mixed the perfect formula for success.

This burgeoning online community, which has 149,973 members as of writing, is essentially the meeting place for those looking for a hint of nostalgia, whether you belong to Generation X or are a millennial. Founded by the same minds behind the aforementioned online clubs, the FB group aims to “bring back the glory days…because they don’t make it like they used to.”

But unlike its predecessors, Classic Pare® Titos and Titas of Manila doesn’t have a niche topic, and instead caters to everyone’s obsession with the past. Should you join this group, expect a lot of amusing flashbacks from your childhood or adolescence, which are bound to take over your news feed.

Similar to any other social media circle, a set of house rules is in place to ensure a safe and clean space for discussion.

-Kindly stay classy and WHOLESOME at all times, Titos.
-Treat everyone like a valuable member of the tribe and let the good times roll!
-Respect our Titas and women in general.
-No Bikini, Brothels, Porn Sites, Dirty Magazines and similar references, please!
-No political themed posts too. Let’s keep our community squeaky clean.
-Whatever transaction/abritration arises from this community is at the sole discretion of members.